Cold Rain
by Jdogg1264
Summary: [Oneshot] He could tear down her walls, and restructure them completely anew...[Dasey]


**A/N: Sorry I haven't posted in such a long time, but I was trying to work the kinks out of this story. I had to change the wording a dozen times before I was remotely satisfied with the writing. This story has a flashback within a flashback, the font changes at this point, so be aware. Once again, bold print is for thoughts while italics are for flashbacks. Enjoy!**

Casey walked on through the city streets at a drearily slow pace. Cold and miserable, she found no comfort in the atmosphere which showered her with the pouring rain. She hugged her arms to her chest, trying to keep the slightest bit warm, but to no avail. It was clear to her fate wasn't on her side this time, as she trudged through the puddle ridden streets, in the direction of a vaguely familiar destination. She didn't mind that her shoes were ruined by the downpour; she felt she deserved much more loss than just her personal possessions. In her mind, she was a lower quality life form than everyone else, an annoyance to society, a mosquito to the population. She deserved to be shunned by those closest to her, for disobeying everything she had once believed in, going against her own way of life, going against every moral she had. After all, it wasn't everyday that Casey Macdonald broke off her engagement to none other than her longtime boyfriend, Sam.

Tears silently slid down Casey's face. She had never felt so lost in her entire schedule infested life. In just a matter of days, her entire world had been turned upside down, by none other than the almighty Derek Venturi.

At age 24, Derek had become a bigger success than anyone ever thought he could be. He had gotten his act together academically junior year and his grades had risen dramatically. He had stopped bickering with Casey so much, they started to get along well and became friends, never really achieving the sibling relationship quite like Edwin and Lizzie had. After high school, Derek had gone off to the University of Toronto, where he had majored in business management. In the last two years, he had managed to open his own hockey merchandise store, and it was thriving with business, leaving Derek rather well off. Both of them lived in Toronto, so Casey had seen Derek frequently since she had moved away from home, at family gatherings or when he came to see Sam and her, always giving her knowing looks in the process.

Several days before, Derek had called Casey and asked her to have lunch with him at the nearby diner. She agreed, not knowing what to expect from him, but finding that she wanted to see him. Little did she know that afternoon would tear down her walls she had built over the years and restructure them completely anew.

_Casey walked into the bustling diner in her work uniform from the law firm she worked at. She looked around and spotted Derek sitting at a small booth, reading a newspaper intently, sipping at his coffee every so often. When he finally looked up and saw Casey, he gave her a quick hug. Sitting back down, Derek folded up his newspaper and directed his attention to Casey._

"_So, how's the work been at the firm?"_

"_Oh, same as usual; big bad murderers running wild until I lock them up!" Casey said ecstatically. Derek just smirked, Casey only got this way around him._

_They sat in the booth, talking about their work, their family back home in London, and laughed at happy memories from back in high school while they ate their lunch. Before either of them realized it, an hour had passed, and Casey lunch break was nearing its end. She stood up, ready to leave._

"_I have to get going. Thanks for inviting me Derek." She moved to leave the booth, but Derek grabbed her wrist before she could. _

"_Wait Case" he said. She slowly sat back down, a questioning look in her eye. He hesitated, not knowing where to start. His gaze on her faltered as he looked down upon the table._

"_Is something wrong Derek?" Casey asked, a note of concern in her voice. There was no reply from him, his eyes still trained on his coffee mug. When he finally looked up, he saw Casey's concern and anxiousness. **Better get this over with then.**_

"_Casey, why are you marrying Sam?" he was looking straight into her eyes, and saw the surprise and fear that filled them once he asked that question. Casey nervously glanced about the diner. She thought Derek would eventually ask her that, but she still hadn't thought of a good response. _

"_Isn't that obvious? Because I love him" she said, throwing her hands in the air for effect. Derek didn't move but gave her a disbelieving look._

"_Come on, Case. You're not foolin anyone around here" Casey rolled her eyes at this. Derek had always been able to tell when Casey gave a bullshit response. Casey's lip trembled, she didn't like when someone tried to invade her domain, especially when that person was Derek. _

"_What gives you that impression?" she asked in a defensive tone. She wasn't going to give in to Derek's mercy, not without putting up a fight. _

"_I see the way you are around him. You don't act like the Casey I know. You act polite and nice."_

"_Hmm, something you could never accomplish" Casey spat back, crossing her arms in front of her. She was getting real tired of Derek judging her like a piece of meat. He had been doing it since she had moved into his family's house nine years ago. _

"_That's not the point. The point is that you can't be yourself around Sam" he protested._

"_What do you mean?" Casey asked, her curiosity rising a bit. She knew Derek was onto something, and felt it easier if she let Derek say it rather than have to tell herself._

"_Case, you're one of the most passionate people I have ever known. You fought me and challenged me everyday we lived in that house, never backing down at my expense. You never let things go my way, using your temper to keep me in my place. Ever since you moved in with Sam, I saw that Casey less and less, until she had disappeared completely. The only place you probably ever get to be old Casey is when you're in the courtroom." Derek ruffled his hair and sighed heavily. "Sam isn't right for you. He never was" he finished, looking rather flushed, his gaze finally deterring and looking back down at the table._

_Casey didn't respond, due to the fact that she was in her own little world, reminiscing a memory she had thought about everyday since it happened._

_Casey was standing in the middle of the living room, watching as her family waited at the bottom of the stairs for the man of the hour. Derek slowly made his way down the stairs, packed bags and suitcases in hand. When he made it to the bottom of the stairs, and placed his bags down, Marti leaped up into his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck. He happily returned the embrace._

"_I'm gonna miss you, Smerek" Marti said softly, a few stray tears running down her cheeks. Derek gave a small smile. _

"_I won't be gone too long Marti, before you know it, I'll be back here for Thanksgiving" he kissed his little sister's forehead before setting her down to say goodbye to the others._

_Casey watched as Derek said his goodbyes to the rest of his family members, his ruffling of his brother's hair, shoving him playfully. George came up and wrapped an arm around his son's shoulders._

"_Well Derek, I never thought I'd see the day. You proved us all wrong" George said with a smile on his face. Derek just smiled back, picked up his bags, and motioned for Casey to follow him outside._

_There was silence between the two while Derek packed his bags into the trunk of the jeep he had gotten last year. George had bought him it for bringing his grades up. Once he closed the trunk door, he turned to Casey, a small, wrapped box in his hand._

"_Case, I know things between us have not always been enjoyable, but those past two years have been the best years of my life" he paused a moment, daring to look into her eyes. Casey was staring at the box in his hands, but willed herself to make eye contact with him. "And it was all because of you Case. You helped me find my potential, helped me find out who I really was. When I'm around you, I feel more alive than I ever have." Derek stopped to gauge her reaction. Yet again, shock and astonishment was clearly evident on her face, her jaw dropped slightly. Derek was more determined now than ever to do what he had been set on doing before he left. He reached a hand up to cup her cheek._

"_Accepting you and Sam was probably the biggest mistake of my life" he said in a softer tone. Casey could feel his warm breath on her neck, sending a shiver through her. She didn't know when he had, but Derek had slipped the wrapped box into her palm, his hand on top of hers. He leaned in and softly kissed her, grazing his lips against hers. Casey had no time to react before he had pulled away again and hugged her. Instinctively, Casey wrapped her arms around his neck._

"_Once you finally end that joke you call a relationship, you come find me" Derek whispered into her ear, before finally turning away towards his car. Before she knew it, he was revving up his engine and pulling away from their childhood home. All Casey could do was stare at the spot in front of her where Derek had once stood._

_Later that night, Casey opened the wrapped box to find a beautiful gold plated necklace with small gems at the hem that spelled out "DC" (Derek and Casey) in cursive. Once she saw this, a huge smile rose on her face as she traced the letters with her index finger over and over again. She missed dinner that night, along with several phone calls from Sam. Her mind was too preoccupied with thoughts of Derek and the kiss that still had her lips tingling from earlier that day._

_Casey shook her head to release her from her thoughts. She looked up to see Derek watching her, a smirk on his face. It was then she realized her left hand was playing with the pendant on the necklace he had given her, the necklace she never took off. Sam had never questioned the meaning of the pendant, so she hadn't bothered to take it off in his presence. She didn't want to anyway, because the day Derek gave her that necklace was the day that she realized that he was right._

_Maybe her feelings for him were just as strong as his for her._

_Seven years had passed since that day, and she still had not broken up with Sam. Her heart had wanted to throw her relationship with him away and go to Derek, but her mind objected. **What would our parents think, hell, what would anyone think of two siblings together, even if they're only related by marriage?** It seemed impossible for Casey to be with Derek, so she had done the safe thing and stayed with Sam. And yet, even after so many years, here was Derek, still waiting for her and bringing back the same old feeling within Casey._

"_Case" Derek said softly, "I've stayed silent all these years because I thought you were happy with Sam. I didn't want to take that away from you, even if I couldn't be with you. But I know you better than that. I know when things aren't right with you. And I know something is missing, I see it every time you're around Sam. You lose your luster around him. You're not happy with him" he leaned back in the booth, waiting for Casey to say something._

_Casey swallowed hard, "Derek…you've changed so much" was all she could manage to choke out. _

"_Only for you" he said with a smile._

_It was at this point that a tear fell down Casey's cheek. What could she say to him? He was right in everything he had said, she wasn't happy with Sam. She was with him because she was good, upstanding Casey, never letting her morals fall, and being with Sam seemed like the most logical choice for her. Now she didn't know if she had made the right choice._

"_After I heard about your engagement, I couldn't stay silent any longer. Case, you should be with someone who has just as much passion as you do. Someone who would leave you every time wanting more. Someone like me, you should be with me Case" he said, gently placing his hand upon hers on the table. _

_Casey couldn't take anymore of Derek's charming words. Her demeanor was crumbling and she knew if he said or did anything more, she would end up giving in to him. She shook her head furiously._

"_Case?"_

"_No!"_

"_Casey, please-"_

"_No Derek! I can't do this!" she said loud enough for the whole diner to catch attention of. She stood up and briskly walked out of the vicinity, all eyes in the diner shifting from her to Derek. All he did was lean back in his booth, sighing heavily. It would be no use to chase after her now. She needed time for everything to sink in before she made any rash decisions, he knew this. He folded up his newspaper, and solemnly walked out of the diner, customer still watching his every move. _

_Over the next few days, Casey's mind was plagued with many thoughts, each and every one of them having to do with Derek. It consumed her mind constantly, affecting her stability in the courtroom and at home. It went on like this until Sam finally confronted her about her behavior._

"_Case?" he said, softly. He received no response as she stood at the kitchen counter, zoned out and completely unaware of her fiancée in the room. It wasn't until he gently placed a hand on the small of her back that Casey snapped out of her trance and acknowledged Sam. _

"_Are you alright, honey?" he asked in a worried tone, concerned etched into his face. He received no answer from her, but saw her lip trembling terribly. He pulled her into a hug, rubbing her back softly, trying to comfort her any way possible._

"_You know if anything was wrong, you could tell me, right?" he whispered into her ear. She started to cry and all Sam could think to do was hold her tightly. Once her sobbing subsided, he pulled away slightly to look her in the eye._

"_I'm sorry Sam" Casey said, turning her head to the ground to avoid his gaze. _

"_For what?" he asked quizzically._

"_I can't marry you."_

_So here she was, walking through the pouring rain, leaving everything she knew behind and treading into unknown territory. It scared her to no end to not be able to see what was to happen to her, but for the first time in many years, since she had moved away from home, she felt alive inside, more alive than she ever had. A smile crept upon her face, the first in a while, as she kept walking, the rain no longer bothering her, as she came closer to her destination. Once she reached a beautifully structured apartment building, she walked inside into a dramatically warmer lobby area. The doorman gave her a warm smile as she walked by, to which she gratefully returned. Her shoes sopped on the carpet below her as she made her way to the elevator. The climb to the fourth floor seemed all too long as her anxiety started to rise. She walked on through the long hallway once off the elevator until she was in front of a door with a gold plated "422" on it. She stood there for a minute, taking a few deep breaths before she knocked on the door. Rustling could be heard from inside before a man a few inches taller than Casey answered the door. Once he laid eyes on Casey, his features softened, his gaze fixated on the soaking wet woman in front of him. She fidgeted uncomfortably under his stare, cursing herself for her appearance._

"_Derek" she breathed, her eyes now downcast. She didn't like feeling like she wasn't in control and that she was at the mercy of another. She strayed from her thoughts when a hand lifted her chin to meet him eye level. Casey was surprised to see a wide grin upon his face._

"_No regrets?" he asked casually, exhilarated that Casey had come around._

_It was her turn to smile this time. She shook her head slowly before she cupped his face with both of her hands._

"_None" was all she said, before shoving him back into his apartment and lunging upon him, planting longing kisses upon his face. Derek found enough time in between Casey's kisses to roughly shove the door closed before returning Casey's intensity with his own, taking control of her urges, and leading her to his bedroom. Casey would feel the full extent of his passion that night._

_Casey had given in to Derek; given up on her structured lifestyle, given up on all the things she once told herself was right. Not because she had gone astray, but because she found something better, she found a way to live without rules and boundaries. She had found someone who could tear down her walls and restructure them anew, unleash her passion into her life and make her feel more alive than she ever could have dreamed._

_It was an amazing thing to be achieved by her cocky and arrogant step-brother, Derek Venturi._

**A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing it. Sorry it took me so long to update again. If you guys review, I promise there will be another update again soon. Thanks again!**


End file.
